If Money Can’t Buy Love, It Can’t Buy Championships Either. Just ask the New York Yankees.
So close, yet so far away. With a disappointing exit from the 2020 playoffs, the New York Yankees come face to face with the dilemma: What exactly is the problem?
All Yankees fans are in Spain…. just without the S. They are like the Washington Capitals of baseball. The team has everything: they have the payroll, the players, yet every year they just don’t show up when they are needed. On October 9th, the New York Yankees season came crashing down when the Tamps Bay Rays eliminated them in Game 5 of the AL Division Series to go to the Conference Finals.
The New York Yankees are a big budget team with a lot of expectations from their loyal fan-base. Yet, with an 11th failed attempt to make the World Series, the team heads into an uncertain postseason with a lot of questions. Yet, one thing is certain: a lot of change needs to happen for the Yankees to reach their ultimate goal- winning a World Series after an 11-season drought.
The Yankees played well even during a shortened season during COVID-19. They had a hot start (16-6) and averaged 5.7 runs per game. Later on the team was plagued with injured players: Aaron Judge (strained leg calf), Gleyber Torres (hamstring/quad) DJ LeMahieu (thumb) Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring)… and that’s not a full list of injuries. As team during the playoffs, there was something that was missing that prevented them to win and injuries is not the top of that list.
Brett Gardner reacts after striking out in the seventh inning. Credit: Gary A. Vasquez | USA Today
There was definitely a problem with the team’s offense in Game 5. The only extra base-hit came when Judge hit a home run in the fourth inning. This is a team who hit a record of 17 home runs throughout their entire run in the playoffs, yet they still lost three out of the four final games. So what is exactly the problem?
Some may say that the players are overpaid and too comfortable. The New York Yankees are the most profitable baseball team in the league. Even during Covid, their total payroll allocations for 2020 is $109,439,081. That team can afford to give a $36 million dollar contract to a player like (Gerrit Cole). That one contract is more than the Tampa Bay Rays team whole 2020 payroll ( $28,290,689). If some players are lacking motivation to finally get over the hump of losing in the playoffs and are just there for the paycheck, the New York Yankees have to really rethink and revise the amount of money they spend on players that underperform in key moments. It is unfathomable that a team of their caliber and financial elasticity came short to a team who have less than half of that. Yet, what they do have is smart management, the right players at the posts, and that gritty passion for success.
Yankee fans begin their yearly vent session about their teams shortcomings and bring up points, that in their opinion, are one of the multiple reasons why the Yankees fail to advance. The first one would be Gary Sanchez. Most fans don’t see any reason why the Yankees should keep him, especially after his disastrous season. Fans think that they are trying to talk themselves into thinking that Sanchez could still be of value to the team. Yet, his numbers prove otherwise and he’s becoming more of a liability.
Fans also think that the team is too right-handed. Tampa Bay has a variety of players that are lefties and righties and the Yankees just didn’t know how to deal with them in the end. They also got issues at the two of the most important defensive positions- Catcher and Shortstop. Fans also want Gleyber Torres out of the Shortstop position, but that likely won’t happen if Gio Urshela is around and if DJ LeMahieu is resigned. They are also going off about Chapman not being the right choice for a closer, especially after he let up two consecutive homers that ended the team’s season prematurely. Yet, as ill-timed as those home runs were, Chapman has 1.71 ERA (Earned Run Average) in 17 postseason appearances as a Yankee with six saves in six opportunities, 37 strikeouts, and eight walks in 21 innings. That shows him as more than capable player to close out the game if he had some additional help on the field.
This postseason will be a difficult one for the Yankees. They would have to rethink a lot of their chess moves and strategize ahead for next season. Where there’s a yin, there’s a yang. The Yankees have their yin, its the yang they have to work for.